- Planning authority
- Cornwall Council
- Postcodes
- PL12
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 40°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.0 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Cornwall
What the council will look at in Saltash
In Saltash, applications for a new home in a garden are decided by Cornwall Council, which weighs them against the council’s Local Plan and national policy. Officers look at access, privacy, daylight, parking, bins, drainage and how much garden is left for each house, and neighbours can comment during consultation.
We read the local policies and any design guidance before drawing a line, and check the planning history of nearby plots for decisions that show how the council has applied them. If the policy picture is uncertain, pre-application advice lets us test the scheme with officers before the formal application goes in.
From first call to decision
Getting started in Saltash takes one step from you: send your address and a few photos of the garden, or call us. We check the title plan, access and planning constraints from our desk, then talk the plot through. If it looks viable we arrange a visit, discuss whether you want to sell, let or keep the new home, and set out the survey and design stage in writing before you commit.
Free plot appraisal
We check the title plan, access, constraints and planning policy from our desk, talk the plot through with you, and visit if it looks viable. There’s no cost and no obligation.
Survey and design
A measured survey records levels, boundaries, trees and neighbouring windows. We then design a layout and house that suit the plot, the street and your budget, and decide whether pre-application advice is worth seeking.
Planning and approvals
We submit the planning application and manage it to a decision, then deal with conditions, Building Regulations approval, the structural warranty, any build-over agreement and the new utility connections.
Written quote and build
Once design and survey are complete you get a written quote. The build runs in stages — access and groundworks, foundations, frame and roof, fit-out and external works — with inspections at each key point.
Worth checking early
- Your own garden gets smaller and the new home will be visible from your house, so screening and separation matter for both homes.
- Building and selling a new home can change your tax position compared with selling only your house; take advice from a tax adviser first.
- You fund the build and carry the cost risk; ground conditions, sewer diversions or supply upgrades found later can move the price.
Your questions, answered for Saltash
Do new homes in Saltash need a structural warranty?
If the house will ever be sold or mortgaged, in practice yes. Mortgage lenders usually expect a 10-year structural warranty on a new home, though some accept an architect’s or surveyor’s certificate, and a warranty provider inspects the work at stages during the build, so it has to be in place before construction starts. Building control approval is separate and also required; a buyer’s solicitor will ask for both.
Can I build a house in my garden in Saltash and keep the land?
Yes. On our design and build route you remain the owner while we design the home, apply to Cornwall Council for planning, deal with Building Regulations and build it. The finished house can be sold, let or kept for family. Whether your plot can take a house depends on access, space, neighbours and local policy, and the decision rests with the council.
How close can a new house be to my own in Saltash?
There’s no single national distance. Many councils use separation guides of around 21 metres between facing back windows and around 12 to 15 metres between a back window and a blank side wall, but the guidance used by Cornwall Council decides. Window positions, ground levels, roof shape and screening all affect what is acceptable, which is why we survey before we design.
Who decides planning for a garden house in Saltash?
Cornwall Council decides applications for addresses in Saltash, using the council’s Local Plan, national policy and its own design guidance. Neighbours and consultees such as highways officers can comment, and the decision is made by the council’s planning officers or, where the rules allow, its planning committee. Pre-application advice from the council can help test a scheme before the formal application is submitted.
Other options in Saltash
- Plot feasibility and design
- Sell part of your garden
- Planning promotion for your garden plot
- Combine gardens with your neighbours
- Planning permission for a garden plot
- Corner and side plots